Monthly Archives: September 2012

Leave it to the guys at Baked, that storied Brooklyn bakery that I have yet to visit (I know, I know), but whose cookbooks I simply adore and whose recipes have never failed me, to get me out of my baking slump.

Their new cookbook, Baked Elements, was released seemingly out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago (did anyone else know they had another cookbook coming out!?). This one is organized by flavors: cinnamon, peanut butter, booze, pumpkin, and… MALT.

We all know how much I love malt powder, right? Only a recipe from Baked combined with malt powder could pull me from the baking doldrums into the glory of afternoon tea with a chocolate madeleine.

As they note in the cookbook, these are definitely not traditional madeleines. If you’re a madeleine purist, ye of lemons only, stay away. If you’d like to experiment, however, these are for you. The malt flavor is not overpowering–just adds a bit of depth to the chocolate–and the texture has the perfect fluffiness. You might want to add more malt powder if you like a very malted flavor.

It’s the start of a new year–a new school year, a new fiscal year (at my job, at least), and a new year of Tasting Tuesdays!

So, since this is the first anniversary of the event, this month, naturally, we celebrated.

Not only were there cupcakes (champagne flavored, of course), but also sparkling strawberry mocktails, made by Caitlyn at Anthropologie Milwaukee! (Don’t worry, recipes for both are at the end of this post.)

I combined an “old” recipe with a new one. The cake recipe is from Vintage Cakes, and it’s so lovely! Extremely moist, quite light, very sweet, with a definite champagne flavor. The original recipe is for a full-out cake but they transformed easily into mini cupcakes.

For the new, I used the reliably amazing Sweetapolita’s whipped champagne frosting recipe. This is seriously the fluffiest, prettiest frosting ever–it takes on almost a shimmery visual quality from the whipped butter base, and the texture is almost identical to the much fussier swiss buttercream frosting.

It’s such an honor to be involved in this event and I am really excited to announce the plan for next year’s Tasting Tuesdays! As long as my schedule doesn’t get too overwhelming (I’ve just started graduate school part-time in New York City), I’ll continue Tasting Tuesdays with a new twist. Though I may sometimes bake from particularly awesome cookbooks (I’ve got my eye on this one), I’ll also expand my inspiration to the whole store!

This means you might see recipes based on a concept in the store’s beautiful displays (shout out to Kim!), a candle scent, the season, or even a dress. I really love the idea of experimenting with unusual inspirations for my baking (for example, if my day job wasn’t so art-heavy, I think the art-inspired section of this site would be much bigger!). Plus, I think this will keep the blog posts more interesting too. If there’s anything in store you’re interested in seeing me interpret in baked goods form, leave me a comment or a tweet!

As always, a huge thank you to the lovely ladies of Anthropologie, including Tera and Shannon (pictured here, with me in the middle!), Kim (she’s taking the picture–can you spot her?), Caitlyn for the beautiful display (those suitcases!), Lyn, and the rest of the awesome team! Who, by the way, all gamely wore adorable aprons all day in honor of the anniversary!

I can’t believe I’ve been baking for Anthropologie for a full year. I’m excited for another year of sharing desserts galore with you, and we have some creative ideas coming your way too, so stay tuned!

I hope some of you have been able to stop by this year! If not, now is your chance: Below is a little invitation (complete with all of this year’s treats) to the anniversary event on September 18. Come down to the Third Ward and celebrate with us! You can RSVP for the official Anthro event on Facebook right here.

On Sunday, I had a couple of friends over for a little dinner party! In the spirit of trying new things with my blog, here’s a little instagraphic of the meal–the main course of which did not make it onto Instagram since we were so excited about diving in!

I made Joy the Baker’s tomato cobbler with blue cheese biscuits. It was so good! Heirloom cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, and basil, with fluffy, baked with tangy buttermilk biscuits on top. Super easy–the hardest part was the onions!–and great for a little get together. On the side, I just put together a simple spinach and fresh herb salad with this shallot-dijon vinaigrette. The perfect end of summer meal. (Can you believe it’s September!?)

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this recipe yet: these are my favorite cupcakes!

After baking them in college from the legendary Martha Stewart Living February 2009 cupcakes issue, they have been my go-to easy but impressive cupcake recipe. As long as your oven isn’t too temperamental (because they’re such a dense cake, I have had them fall easily) these are a breeze. And the glaze is wellknown around this blog as my favorite quick frosting.

Be forewarned, though: These are sweet. SO sweet. So sweet they will put you into a sugar coma. I had one yesterday and promptly took an accidental 2-hour nap. But they have nuttiness and hints of caramel and molasses in them… Which makes them perfect for the fall, which will hopefully be here soon!